Since I'm in the neighborhood I thought I would ask this as well.

I have been reading around and it seems that revolvers are the choice sidearms when hunting, hiking, etc. Why is that?

I've always had a semi-auto preference so I'm not sure what the rationale is behind this.

Does it has to do with being able to load a longer cartidge in a revolver than in the mag of a handgun and therefore having substantially more stopping power when coming up against something "more" than a man (ie. bear, boar, moutain cat, etc). I'm not a hunter, but I'd like to know just the same.

Thanks guys

Quoted: Cartridge availability mainly, and accuracy & barrel lengths to a lesser extent. Most of the semi auto guns that you could hunt with were never available in more than "novelty" numbers like the Desert Eagle and I think Coonan also, plus they are/were expensive and sometimes finicky. Glock makes a longer hunting barrel for their 10mm model 20. I think you could get that up to 41 magnum levels so it'd be good for deer sized game and maybe black bears

Is this for a sidearm when hunting or for actual handgun hunting?

I've been told carrying a semi-auto while hunting is dependant upon state laws... some only allow revolvers? How does that make any sense?

Quoted: In NY you can hunt with Semis, I wouldn't be surprised if there were states where you were not. semis have been seen by the Duck and Deer crowd as evil guns, just like they don't like semi automatic long guns. Oh if you mean the Glock, it's for hunting, the extended barrel would be a pia for general carry purposes. I have seen photos of it used for hog hunting. I think it would also be okay for whitetail.

Does that go the same for hiking/trekking? Or does it depend on a lot of different factors, like state or national park and all that stuff? Does it matter in this case what type of handgun you are carrying?

One of the main reasons I bought a revolver was for hunting.  I've never really liked shooting revolvers and all my other handguns up until that point had been autos.  I wanted a revovler to take into the woods with me deer hunting in the odd ball case that I needed it to finish off game or to shoot something at a close range.  

One of the other reasons I bought a revolver is for fishing.  I hate snakes with a passion, and running into snakes while fishing seems to be the norm for me.  With a revolver you can shoot a snake load a whole lot more reliably than with an auto.  That was a big selling point to me.

WTF is a snake load?

Quoted: One of the other reasons I bought a revolver is for fishing.  I hate snakes with a passion, and running into snakes while fishing seems to be the norm for me.  With a revolver you can shoot a snake load a whole lot more reliably than with an auto.  That was a big selling point to me.

Pack guns or trail guns generally are chambered for fairly potent rounds if it is in territory where dangerous game might be encountered.

Consider how light and compact a 6 shot 44Magnum can be made with guns such as the S&W Model 29, or more recently the 329.

Now compare to how stout a semiauto handgun must be built in order to properly function with the same 44Magnum round.    And all the "boomer" semiautos that are out there, I would hardly call any of them to be reliable guns with respect to the Desert Eagle, Grizzly, Wildey, and Automags.    Atleast in comparison to a revolver which is generally dead nuts reliable.



If I had to pack a potent sidearm it would be a revolver of 41Magnum or larger in size.     The only semiauto in my opinion that comes close(in terms of being both light and easy to manage) to this is the Glock 20 in 10mm Auto with some of the more potent loadings.



I kinda like the idea of a shotgun though loaded with 5-7 slugs if I expect to come across some crazed snarling furry beast.

snake load = Shotshell. Or if you roll your own shot with a lead ball on top of it.

Power and accuracy -- is the simple answer for why a revolver.

Sights fixed to the barrel means revolvers will easily outshoot autos of the same quality (price).

10mm is probably the best you're going to do in a practical autoloader(Not Desert eagle or other crazy big guns) and 10mm is pretty darn good. Until you compare to .41Mag ,.44Mag .45Colt+p or even the kind of 10mm hand loads that are safe only in the fully supported chambers of a wheelgun.

Do we really need 16 rounds for the woods ? Worried about a pack of bears ?

Quoted: Do we really need 16 rounds for the woods ? Worried about a pack of bears ?

After hanging around here for a while I have that crazy SHTF frame of mind about everything... even if I don't actually practice it...

Jackbooted Ninja Bears?



That would be a black bear I presume....

Quoted: Quoted: Do we really need 16 rounds for the woods ? Worried about a pack of bears ? After hanging around here for a while I have that crazy SHTF frame of mind about everything... even if I don't actually practice it...

What about wolves? They're in packs. Of course you could probably take a wolf with a 9. Not that I'd want to.

Hey you again!

By what you are asking I would guess you are already carrying a rifle ??? Well maybe not in the hiking situation.

Just about any reliable handgun that you can fire accurately is a good hiking/hunting back-up weapon. I just gauge my weapon to the type of environment I am entering. I have carried a Ruger MKII Government Target Model .22LR, Walther PPK/S, Smith & Wesson Model 19 and Model 629 (pre-AK) when in the outdoors. That makes 2 Pistols and 2 Revolvers. The 2 I have had to use in a Wilderness Situation were the MKII and the Model 19.

The revolver vs auto question looks like it has already been answered. It is less expensive to build a reliable high-energy revolver than a pistol.

MT

my dad took a deer with his 1911
I think he had his Contender with a rifle caliber barrle as his primary weapon but the deer came by really close so he got it with the 45

I think it boils down to reliability and power. A Desert Eagle has plenty of power but it is to heavy and big to carry along with your primary sidearm. Also a semi has more things to malfunction. Everyone here considers 44 mag to be as low a power factor as you want. I sell alot of 4 and 5" 44 and 454's to people looking for backup guns.
You want as much as you can handle if you run into a Brownie that doesnt take a liking to you.

Zach
Juneau Alaska

Quoted: You want as much as you can handle if you run into a Brownie that doesnt take a liking to you.

I know exactly what you mean... last year at the commisary I was confronted by some brownies, but I already bought cookies from some other brownies in my neighborhood... man were they pissed. Wish I had a .44 at the time... I'd have felt a lot safer.

Quoted: Quoted: You want as much as you can handle if you run into a Brownie that doesnt take a liking to you. I know exactly what you mean... last year at the commisary I was confronted by some brownies, but I already bought cookies from some other brownies in my neighborhood... man were they pissed. Wish I had a .44 at the time... I'd have felt a lot safer.

I hunt big game in bear country.  I hunt elk and deer. No, not with a pistol as th primary but I never go without a pistol.  My pistol of choice for the last several years... Glock 22.  While it may not be the "big medicine" for nasty 500#+ customers, those little pills are good enough if you give the proper dose.

Earlier this summer I shot a 4 1/2' rattlesnake with my Glock 22.  Last year I granted grace to my Buddy's bull elk as well as his 4x4 white tail buck with it.  The year before that, I granted grace to my 4x4 white tail with it.  The year before that, I gave the "take that you F*$KING POS" to a LARGE Rotty that tried to attack me.  The year before that, I used my Glock 22 to  grant grace to a HUGE Black Angus bull that had broken its back.  The year before that, I granted grace to my uncles sick Rottweiler.  Along the way there were many skunks, coons, rabbits etc. etc. So you see- it's what I know, and what I know to work.  I don't care much for power if the shot sucks- you're going to have to shoot again. All but one of the above I shot more than once, and even at that- all 4 shots were in the head. (Lets just say it happened really fast)

I have a S&W model 29 w/ 4" barrel.  It's a perfect pack gun, but I don't shoot it often enough to find the comfort level needed to depend on MY SKILLS.  The gun is trustworthy- it's the skill that kills.

Having worked in a retail store I would have archery hunters come in wanting to buy the "Biggest baddest pistol around" for bear medicine.  I would ask them how much they have shot a pistol and usually the experience was "limitied" so to speak.  I would then recommend a 22 magnum pistol... As lumpy pointed out- penentration is the key. The 22 magnum would allow the proper amount of penetration and the archer could still have an open casket. You see, the report from the pistol will scare the bear off and even if it comes back it probably wouldn't want to bother molesting the archer's corpse.

Sly

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that in PA it is ILLEGAL to hunt with anything semi-auto other than a shotgun for deer/turkey/etc.  That means not AR15/AK/FAL/ etc. for any type of legal hunting.  .22 and .17 HMR are also included.  It must be bolt, pump, lever, or single shot action.

Pisotls are the same.  You are not permitted to even have a semi auto even on you when hunting.  Fishing is funny as well since even if you have a PA CCW permit once you don the fishing license you are now under the fish and game commission rules of carrying.  That means that my Springfield XD I normally CCW with is no longer legal have when I've got the fishing license on and hte pole in my hand.  Hence the S&W .357 or .44 mag.  

I may be wrong on a few of thsoe but that has always been my understanding....Oh yeah, round limit.  You can only have six rounds in a pistol, and three in a rifle/shotgun.  I think that's another reason they hate semis is that they usually hold more of dem dangerous bullets.  

How 'bout a .460 Rowland.  I got the conversion for my Kimber 1911 and the ballistics are truely magnum.  I settled on the Speer 225 gr mag bullet as the one that held up pretty well to these velocities:  1333 FPS out of my 5" barrel.  Unfortunately, it shoots way high out of my gun and I haven't gotten around to dealing with Clark  about what I can do.
Still, it remains promising.

RE: carrying firearms in national parks-- I seem to recall that this is against the law.  

Working in rain-infested regions and in the field, I would not carry a revolver.  It was correctly pointed out that the Desert Eagle is basically a rifle, but I don't feel that a Ruger Redhawk is much less of an anchor.  

Then again, I am not allowed to carry pistols in the field period.  

In my off time I carry an HK USP with .45 Supers.  Beats going after a bear with a penknife, but it's certainly inadequate.  

This thread is conjuring up images of the injured cow scene in Me, Myself and Irene.

three reasone, at least for this cowboy.
first, a singel action sixgun is VERY simple to use, cock the hammer and shoot, no screwing around with a gazzilon saftys.
second, a revolver offers much more raw power than any gun out sidwe od a Desert Eagle  .50 AE
third, accuracy, a semi auto is more or less "battle Accurate" at 25 or 30 yards, but a .45 Colt has the potentail to be pushed over a hundred yards!

plus, for me a double action wiz bang high cap 9mm will NEVER ride in this cowboys holster, i stick with the old 3 screw Ruger Blackhawk. .45 Colt, .44 Mag, and .44-40 Wincheser...all my favorites

however, for raw, bret force, the top hnadgun "MEGA MAGNUMS" are:

The .454 Casull (super powerful .45 colt)

.475 linebrough
.480 ruger (more or less the same as the .475...i woder if there interchangable?)

.500 linebrough magunm (.45-70 brass blown out to .50 cal and trimmed back)
.500 linebrough Magnum Maximum (full sized .45-70 brass blowen out, but not cut back)'
.500 Smith & Wession Magnum (the "new" most poerful hanggun in the world)

there is i iagin many more, but these are the ones i rember off the top of my head, the .44 mag, .45 colt, .41 mag, .357 mag ect. are excluded since they are not in my "mega mag" mentality of catagorrizing calibers

any one of these brutes WILL turn anything in north america or africa inside out and upside down, especily the .50 caliber cartrages.

I used to be a big fan of autoloaders - mainly 9mm. I have had Ruger KP89, G17, and XD9 autoloaders for most my life. Afew months ago I started watching all of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. So I replaced my XD9 for a 20 yr old Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44mag.  A little larger frame than the 45 colts used, but hey, it'll do the same thing. But nothing matches the ease of use and accuracy of my 44. It is so much more fun to me.

I reload. And seriously consider it if you enjoy shooting more than a few rounds a month - large caliber ammo is EXPENSIVE! 9mm is cheap but 10mm, 41mag, 44mag, 45 colt is all in the $20-$30 /box range. I load everything from nearly recoiless 800 fps 200gr lead "cowboy loads" for plinking to double-handed 1700fps mag loads that no North American critter would stand up to. As you have heard most revolvers "point" more naturally than autopistols.

You cant go wrong with Super Blackhawk/Redhawk. As you can see I am partial to Ruger. Many alaskan hikers prefer D.A. I prefer single action. After you fire a few, cocking it becomes natural and you dont even think about it.  I am deadly accurate with my SB44 with 7.5 inch barrel. And I would be comefortable taking a shot on a deer or any large animal under 100yds. I have hit small critters on the first shot in that range. I wouldnt dream of doing that with one of my wimpy old pistols. Downside of such weapons - the bulk and length. My S. Blackhawk is a less heavy/bulky than the D.A. Redhawks b/c it is not a heavy hunter setup with rings, etc.

I think i would decide what exactly I would do with the gun before I spent the $$. If you are strictly hiking, carrying lots of gear and want some protection - go with something smaller and lighter - a Glock 40SW comes to mind but he possibilites are endless. But If you go looking for trouble - pack the extra weight. A 41 or 44 mag would do.

Here is my new hunting handgun...



Gotta love a big .44!